Eleni Gates (Moderator)

Eleni Gates (Kouvatsos), MBA, APR is an award-winning strategic communications leader based in Charlotte, North Carolina. She is the founder and principal of Gates Hospitality Group, LLC, a strategic communications and marketing consulting firm. She has extensive experience leading national communications strategy for both private and small-cap public companies, including Florida-based First Watch Restaurants and Carolina-based Firebirds Wood Fired Grill. She’s driven corporate communications strategy, including executive and crisis communications and consumer public relations.
Gates served as president of the Central West Coast chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association from September 2020 through August 2021 and remains involved today as an at-large board member and advisor. She was named one of SRQ Magazine’s 35 Under 35 Honorees in 2021. Gates earned her bachelor’s degree in Public Relations from the University of Florida, followed years later by her national Accreditation in Public Relations in 2020 and her Executive MBA from Emory University in 2024.